This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Bettman favoured Winnipeg: Moyes

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would rather the Phoenix Coyotes move back to Winnipeg, preferring Hamilton to get an expansion team, according to the latest documents filed in bankruptcy court.

Court filings indicate Gary Bettman would prefer to see Winnipeg snag the Coyotes if team has to move. (JEFF TOPPING / REUTERS FILE PHOTO)

By Kevin McGranSPORTS REPORTER

Sun., May 17, 2009

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would rather the Phoenix Coyotes move back to Winnipeg, preferring Hamilton to get an expansion team, according to the latest documents filed in bankruptcy court.

Following as it does on the heels of musings by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie's camp they are willing to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix for one more season, the final onslaught of documents supporting the team's bankruptcy gives some insight into the backroom deals that are far from public posturing.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said moving the team to Winnipeg was considered only if there were no other options.

"In the event there turned out to be no options in Phoenix – and only in that event – we thought it was worth exploring what might be available in Winnipeg," Daly said in an email in reaction to the latest documents.

Balsillie issued a press release yesterday, saying the offer to stay in Glendale was only to make life easier for NHL schedule makers.

Article Continued Below

"If bringing an NHL team to Hamilton means needing to remove a scheduling impediment to my bid to purchase the Coyotes franchise, I am willing to do what is necessary to assist the NHL in order to get us to our ultimate goal," said the statement. "That is why I have indicated to the bankruptcy court, in reply to the NHL's argument, that if beginning NHL play in Hamilton this fall truly creates a scheduling impediment, I am willing to remove that impediment and leave the team in Phoenix for one additional season."

As the clock ticks on the legal case that could have an NHL team in Hamilton next season, Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes had his turn to respond to the accusations that have been flying all week from the NHL and the city of Glendale.

His legal team portrayed Moyes as an upstanding businessman who stands to lose $300 million (all figures U.S.) if the NHL gets its way, and who "unlike the NHL, comes to this court with clean hands."

And tucked away in the declaration of Earl Scudder, one of Moyes' lawyers, were the contents of a key conversation with Bettman.

On April 3 – well before the bankruptcy filing – Scudder said he revealed to Bettman a "purchaser from Canada who wanted to move the team to southern Ontario." The date is important because it suggests Moyes, through Scudder, was controlling the team, in direct contrast to league assertions it had been doing so since November.

"Bettman responded that there would be no approval to relocate the Coyotes to Hamilton because the arena they would play in is over 30 years old; if the team did return to Canada, it would be Winnipeg; for a team to move into southern Ontario, it would only be an expansion team."

The Moyes camp's arguments went to great lengths to discredit NHL assertions it was running the team and accusations Moyes had secretly altered documents in April to make it seem as if he had more authority than he did.

It's clear the biggest question that needs to be answered is: Who controls the team? Moyes' camp went to great lengths to show it was business as usual for the Coyotes after Moyes signed proxies over to the NHL. But the affidavit of former Coyotes CEO Jeff Shumway did include mixed messages the league may seize upon. In it, he admits he was uncomfortable with the power the NHL would get with the proxy, and was frustrated on Nov.3 when the league took over negotiations with the city of Glendale.

"I understand that the NHL now asserts that at this meeting Mr. Bettman stated the league had assumed operation and managerial control of the Phoenix Coyotes because Mr. Moyes was no longer able to fund the Coyotes. This is not true," writes Shumway, adding that Bettman sounded as if he was only doing the Coyotes a favour "because he had good experiences in the past negotiating with cities."

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com